Rainbows and Smiles

When the ‘crying girl’ from Mean Girls (literally, her name is no where to be found), said “I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy”, Damian shouted her down and told her she didn’t even go here, and all of us watching just laughed and called her a loser. But little did we know that she was in fact psychic and fast forward to 25th April 2016 and that is just what happened. Someone baked, with actual rainbows and what a happy place it was.

In New York City, you’ve got it all on your doorstep. It’s taken as a given that you’ll probably get the best burger, waffles or pancakes that you’ve ever had but the city has way more than that. From the ultimate Asian fusion tapas to pizzas the size of Berkshire, one day alone in the NYC is enough for you to eat something from at least 3 different continents, so if you’re there for five, a cuisine not tapped into? Try me.

But despite all the glamourous wining and dining, if you’re my sister you’ll prefer the ‘stall crawl’ (a virtually identical hot dog from each stall along Fifth Avenue), and if you’re me, you’ll be at your happiest when perched on a rickety chair, eating a multi-coloured bagel, made by the most typical American mom in a little haven called The Bagel Store, Brooklyn.

When I say hundreds of bagels I’m not exaggerating. Rainbow bagels, cotton candy bagels, bubble gum bagels, purple bagels (dedicated to Prince), pink bagels with blue gems (Breaking Bad bagels), bagels made after their local basketball team, and a few things called cragels (the offspring of a croissant and a bagel). The fillings are not even worth talking about because you can quite literally have anything you want and as much of it. What is worth mentioning though is the list of cream cheese flavours as long as the queue out the door and the fact that it’s probably the only place in the world who don’t scowl when you choose to mix savoury with sweet.

Now I know rainbow bagels have recently become a thing in London and you can find them on Brick Lane (obviously), but sadly they’re not quite the same. Don’t get me wrong, a bagel’s a bagel and if you’re up early doing the walk of shame through Shoreditch I’d grab one before they’re gone, but for anyone who finds themselves across the pond anytime soon, do yourself a favour and pay the birthplace a visit. Embrace the queue, don’t rush your decision, make sure you take pictures – as it’s probably the most Instagram worthy meal you’ll ever have – and finally, take a moment to thank God for Damien because it sounds like ‘crying girl’ listened to him, left North Shore High and headed straight to Brooklyn to make her wish come true.